Environment Agency - Home

Direct regulation

The traditional approach to regulation.

This is the traditional approach to regulation. It enables us to control emissions or abstractions from processes in England and Wales that have the potential to pollute through various environmental permits. By "permits" we mean all mechanisms for direct regulation, including licences, consents, registrations, notices and directly applying the legislation..

Permitted processes include:

  • Complex process industries, (eg. chemical works, power stations or cement works);
  • Sewage treatment works;
  • Waste management facilities, (eg. landfill sites and incinerators);
  • Industries that use radioactive material.

These permits typically set limits to control the level of pollutants that can be released to air, land or water from a particular site, and may require the site operator to carry out processes in accordance with stated conditions.

We review permits periodically to make sure they keep pace with changing circumstances. It is important to make sure that permit conditions remain protective of the environment.

For more information on Direct regulation, read our pages on Delivering for the environment.